Top Albums of 2018 (SPIN)

I loved SPIN magazine when I was in high school.  Had subscriptions to it and Rolling Stone (which is actually kind of curious - not sure what I would think if my kids asked for that right now) and, although I don't have a subscription now, I frequently visit the website.  Their top ten is interesting for their number one pick, which hasn't even been top ten on any of the lists I have looked at so far.

1. The 1975 — A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships.  Well, now.  That is a shocker.  I actually ended up liking this album pretty well, even though I originally wanted to rip it up because of the album title.  But "Love It If We Made It" is a very good song.  It's an uneven album, some very good stuff and some terrible things, so I would never include it as the album of the year, but I can understand the love anyway.

2. Mitski — Be the Cowboy.  Yeah, I liked it, but it couldn't crack my top ten.
3. Kacey Musgraves — Golden Hour.  Word.  My best album of the year.
4. Amen Dunes — Freedom.  Nice!  Another ACL artist, who I had never heard of up until listening up for the Fest.  I really enjoyed the album, and was disappointed that his set time was such that I couldn't get there to see him.  Cool album.
5. Blood Orange — Negro Swan.  Bad album.  He came to ACL, so I went through the process of listening up to all of his stuff, but I did not enjoy this album at all.  Boring to me.
6. Earl Sweatshirt — Some Rap Songs.  Interesting that this is on so many year end lists.  It isn't bad, but to me it is very forgettable.  No thanks.
7. Low — Double Negative.  Nope.  Tried this one for another top ten list and it sucks.  I called it "grinding ear murder," if that helps.
8. Pusha T — Daytona.  Just went ahead and popped this on again, and yeah, its a good album.  I think it is an indictment on rap that the best or second best album of the year was only 7 songs long, but that's OK.

9. Robyn — Honey.  Yeah, I tried this one the other day after it was in a different top ten.  Not for me.
10. Oneohtrix Point Never — Age Of.  I have no clue what type of music this would be called.  Space electronica?  There are guitars, but there is also lots of autotune.  There are beats, but there are also meandering schmears of sound that last into eternity.  This is a terrible thing.  I had to stop listening during "We'll Take It," which I think is the sound of an air conditioner condenser unit mating with a pneumatic drill.